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All good safes will have UL
(Underwriters Laboratories) ratings and it rates the level of
protection of a safe. These ratings determine how fire-resistant
and durable a safe is. It also indicates whether a safe can
survive a 30-foot impact, which simulates a fall of three
stories. In a fire, a safe may fall
through the floor, break open, and spill the contents you are
seeking to protect.
| Class C Safe |
Protects paper documents for up to 1 hour at
temperatures
up to 1700°F |
| Class B Safe
|
Protects paper documents for up to 2 hours
at temperatures up to 1850°F |
| Class A Safe |
Protects paper documents for up to 4 hours
at 2000°F. |
Below are some of the things to take into consideration
before getting a safe.
- Size
Safes are a long-term investment, it is important to get a
sense for what you will need to protect, both now and in the
future, before you choose a model. It can be helpful to have
the measurements of the largest item you will place in the
safe to get a sense for the minimum dimensions you can accept.
- Media safes
Media safes are safes that are specifically designed to
protect disks and other audio/visual equipment such as CDs and
cassette tapes because they are more fragile than paper
documents. Diskettes, for example, can be ruined easily and
require humidity below a certain level. Because of the special
requirement needed, media safes tend to be very expensive.
- Safe installation
Make sure the safe is embedded into something that
is not easily carried away. Depending on the size of the safe,
a small safe can sometimes be carried away by the burglars to
be crack somewhere else. A safe should be installed
into the wall or the floor. For maximum effect, place the safe
in concrete, the safe will not only be highly burglar
resistant but will also be beyond the reach of most fires.
This is a slightly expensive method but for a less expensive
method, bolt a safe to the floor.
- Locks
Cheaper safes come with locks that are not
particularly effective against an experienced burglar but for
greater security, opt for electronic and digital locks that
can cost up to $350 but comes with the guarantee that the
codes are
nearly impossible to crack.
- Price
Buy a safe that suits your needs. There's no point
buying huge safe just to store a few documents. In most cases,
a class B or C safe is fine for adequately protecting
irreplaceable papers.
For more info on how safecracking works, click
here. |
